Fuel gas distributing system for coke ovens



July 31, 1934. J. BECKER 1,968,367

FUEL GAS DISTRIBUTING SYSTEM FOR COKE OVENS Original Filed Oct. 11, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY July 31, 1934. J. BECKER I FUEL GAS DISTRIBUTING SYSTEM FOR COKE OVENS Original Filed Oct. 11, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Qwowntow M July 31,1934. J BE ER 1,968,367

FUEL GAS DISTRIBUTING SYSTEM FOR COKE OVENS Original Filed Oct. 11, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTO RN EY gas.

Patented July 31, 1934 1 UNITED STATES FUEL GAS DISTRIBUTING SYSTEM FOR Joseph Becker,

COKE ovnNs Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to The Koppers Company of Delaware, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Original application October 1 1, 1927, Serial No.

225,451. Divided and this 1931, Serial No. 541,899

application June 3,

4 Claims. (01. 2035-142) My invention fcomprehends improvements of general utility in the heat treating art in which combustible gas is supplied to heating walls, and in its more specific aspects, relates to improve- 5 ments in the distribution of combustible gases of different heating characteristics to the flued walls of coke ovens, or the like, exemplified for instance in the patent to Koppers-1,026,169, dated May 14, 1912, or the patent to Becker.1,374,546, dated April 12, 1921. More particularly my invention relates to certain modifications of the systems disclosed in my former Patent 1,623,460, dated April 5, 1927, and my co-pending application Serial Number 33,811, filed May 29, 1925, now Patent No. 1,704,239 of March 5, 1929, and comprehends means whereby preheated gases or unpreheated gases or mixtures of such gases may, at will, be efficiently supplied tothe heating walls. The present application is a division of my application Serial Number 225,451, filed October 11, 1927, which is a continuation in part of the aforesaid application Serial Number 33,811, now Patent No. 1,704,239.

In the operation of by-product coke ovens it is a common practice to employ the distillation gases from the coke oven for heating the oven walls.

However, this gas has a high B. t. u. value and is a in great commercial demand for other purposes, and since, as is well known, available blast furnace gas, producer gas, blue gas, carbureted water gas, or other leaner gases can be used as substitutes for coke oven gas in the heating of the ovens, it is frequently desirable to employ one of the latter to conservethe more valuable coke oven Blast furnace and producer gas have a heating value from 100 to 135 B. t. u.. and blue gas of about 290 B. t. u., while coke oven gas has a heating value of 5503. t.. u. and upwards. Producerand blast furnace gas have a large content of inerts and therefore when employed to heat the oven walls must be pre-heated. On the other hand--coke oven and blue gas contain practically no inerts and are therefore not pre-heated.

introduce the unpreheated gas'es through horizonof the brickwork becomes more highly heated as .off at will.

It has heretofore been a common practice to perature of the gas in the supply ducts is substan it passes along the duct and its density accordingly decreases from the point of intake to the end of the duct. These factors necessitate the graduation of the nozzles located in the vertical ducts to effect the supply of a substantially uniform quantity of gas to each successive flue. The proper graduation and setting of these nozzles is a very tedious and costly operation, rendered still more so by the fact that after use the nozzles become burnt in, making them difiicult to remove and liable to damage during removal.

All of these difiiculties I overcome by locating the supply ducts for the several gases of difierent character, which do not require preheating, ex-

.teriorly of the oven brickwork and advantageously in a tunnel beneath and lengthwise of the pillar or division walls which separate the regenerators, said supply ducts being connected through controlling and regulating means to the flues of the corresponding heating walls by ducts passing through the pillar or division walls, the latter ducts preferably being ofa cross-sectional area sufficient for the leaner gas.

In one of the specific forms of my invention herein disclosed are provided two supply ducts directly connected to the fiued heating walls through vertical ducts individual to the respective combustion fiues, the flow from each supply duct' to each vertical duct being controlled by a stop cock, or the like, whereby flow from a particular supply to each individual flue may be regulated or shut This arrangement permits the operation of all of the fiues on either gas, or alternate fiues, walls, or groups of fiues or walls, on gas of one character and the intermediate fiues, walls,

or groups of flues or walls on gas of another character, or the fiuesQwalls, or groups may be variously op'eratedon a regulated mixture of the gases. Great flexibility of operation is therefore provided and economy of operation as well as j close regulation of heating conditions rendered possible. r

My system substantially eliminates the danger of fiuxingthe heating flues by irregular fuel gas distribution. Since the pillar walls are cool at their base, becoming hot at their tops, the temtially uniform throughout and the temperature in the vertical ducts between the same and the a combustion fiues varies substantially uniformly in each from bottom to top and therefore gas of substantiallyuniform temperature is supplied by'each to saidflues; Hence variation of temperatureand pressure existing in prior gas distributing systems are eliminated in my system, thus obviating the necessity for special regulation therefor by means of graduated nozzles, resulting in a material simplification of construction and operation.

While the system thus far described is of general utility, it is of special advantage when employed in a battery having oven chambers whose opposite walls are provided with flues communicably connected across said chambers by a plurality of connecting ducts, as in the Becker type of oven herein disclosed, for in the latter case, the uniformity of the temperature and pressure of the gases issuing from the flues of one wall is maintained and the gases are passed across to the flues of the opposite'wall and through the same, the uniformity of temperature and pressure of the gases at corresponding points in their paths being preserved throughout.

As an alternative construction I may provide the foregoing system with gas pressure equalizing channels into which the vertical ducts port, said channels being preferably located in the tops of the pillar or division walls or in the brickwork below the heating walls, said channels being connected through a plurality of preferably vertical ducts provided with refractory nozzles with the respective flues of the heating walls. By this construction, should any irregularity in flow occur in any of the vertical connecting ducts below the equalizing channels, it would not materially affect the uniformity of pressure at the nozzles supplying the respective flues since the vertical ducts not so affected would compensate for the variation through the equalizing channel.

As a further important feature of my invention I extend the equalizing channels at one end through to the outside of the brickwork in order that they may be accessible for cleaning and also in order that atmospheric air may be passed there through to burn out carbon and tarry or other deposits from the gas frequently occurring in regions of high temperature. This air being introduced at low pressure has no tendency to be forced back into the fuel gas supply through leaky cocks or by reason of other mechanical failures or faulty operation, thereby giving rise to dangerous mixtures, as is possiblewhen the air is forced in from the bottom under pressure through the supply duct and small metallic orifices designed for pressure operation. I may locate the equalizing channel in a region soselected that ordinarily there will be no tendency for carbon or tarry depositsto form below it thus obviating the neces sity of cleaning the small metallic orifices below. I may, however, introduce the air fromthe bottom through said orifices in the usual manner j if desired.

I have shown the airsupplied to undivided regenerators through channels in their soles, which, upon reversal, are employed to convey the waste gases therefrom, although the air might be introduced through individual ducts and sectional regenerators. The most satisfactory results, however, are obtained by the introduction of the air in, the former manner, due to the fact that the convection currents produced within the undivided regenerator chambers between the gases at of the invention above recited, the invention hassuch other improvements or advantages in construction and operation as are found to obtain in the structures and devices hereinafter described or claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and showing for purposes of exemplification, a preferred form and manner in which the invention may be embodied and practiced, but without limiting the claimed invention specifically to such illustrative instance or instances:

Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section transversely of the battery through a heating wall on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, showing one form of my invention provided with gas equalizing channels,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken longitudinally of the battery, the section 2--2 being taken on the line 22, and the section 2 2' being taken on the line 22' of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section transversely of the battery through a heating wall taken on the line 33 of Fig. 4, showing a modified construction, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section taken longitudinally of the battery, the section 44 being taken on the line 4-4, and the section 4-4 being taken on the line 44' of Fig. 3.

The same characters of reference indicate the same parts in each of the several views of the drawings.

My invention is herein disclosed as applied to the Becker type of oven, in which it has special utility, as herein elsewhere more particularly set forth, but it is obvious that it isof general application and utility as applied to other types of ovens, such for instance, as the well known Koppers type and others.

Referring to the drawings there are illustrated a plurality of crosswise elongated heating walls 11 and a plurality of crosswise elongated vertical coking chambers 12 supported by heavy supporting or pillar walls 13 which extend crosswise of the battery and are located as shown in Fig. 2 beneath the respective heating walls 11. These pillar walls, together with other walls, collectively form' the main support for the entire super,- structure of the oven battery and are themselves supported upon a flat pad or platform 14, which in turn rests upon supporting walls 15 provided with doors 16 by means of which access to the tunnels formed by these walls below the oven may be had. These tunnels are further provided with ventilation spaces 19. The heating walls 11 are each provided with a plurality of combustion flues 17 connected in the usual manner by the ducts 23 to the regenerators 18 which are located between the pillar walls 13 and intermediate supporting walls 22. These regenerators are adapted to preheat the air of combustion when an unpreheated combustible gas is employed or to preheat both the air and the combustible gas, respectively, when a gas which requires preheating is employed. A main P for supplying the latter gas is shown connected to the regenerator system in the conventional manner. Each flame flue 1'? of each heating wall has at its top a port or opening 24 leading to a-bus flue 25 formed in the heating wall, there being shown in the pres ent instance two of such horizontal flues positioned end to end with respect to each other, one on each side of the median line L of the battery.

side of the oven chamber by means of a plurality of passageways 26. I have shown three such passageways connected to each horizontal flue 25, although it is obvious thatany number from one up to the number of heating flues feeding into the horizontal flue may be employed, the horizontal flue in the last case being dispensed with.

As shown herein, the regenerators H and G, respectively, on opposite sides of a pillar wall 13 constitute a pair. connected by ducts 23 to flues 17 of the corresponding heating wall 11 and when operating on a gas which requires preheating, e. g. producer gas, a regenerator of one of these pairs preheats and delivers the gas to said flues while its mate delivers preheated air thereto, combustion taking place within the flues and the products of combustion passing from the top of the flues Zthrough the cross-over ducts 26, down the flues 17 in the heating wall 11 on the opposite side of the oven and from thence by way of the ducts 23 through thenext adjacent pair of regenerators H, G, which at this stage serve as waste heat re.- generators. Upon reversal of the battery the latter pair of regenerators serve to preheat the air and gas respectively while the former pair serve as waste heat reg'enerators, all .as set forth more at length in my former Patent 1,374,546, supra, or in my pending application Ser. No.

- 705,556 filed April 10, 1924.

Extending from each side of the battery and crosswise of the same, through the openings 19 and along the tops of the tunnels or accessible passageways and beneath the respective pillar walls 13, on each side of the central line Let the battery. are gas supply channels or ducts for supplying gas which does not require preheating, for example, coke oven gas to the sevv eral flame flues of each heating wall when the oven is operated on such gas, the supply ducts on one side of the battery being shown at 27. These. supply ducts are fed in turn from gas mains M by appropriate connections, flow through which may be controlled by the valve or cock m.

As an important feature of my present invention I provide a second set of supply channels or ducts 2930, alsorespectively on opposite sides of the median line L, for feeding gas of difierent heating characteristics which does not require preheating, e. g., water gas, to the several flame flues when it is desired to operate them on such other gas. These supply ducts are fed by appropriate connections from second gas mains N, flow from which is appropriately controlled by valves or cocks n. The supply mains and ducts for the respective unpreheated gases may be conveniently arranged, as shown, in close parallel relationship, the ducts 27 and 29 being provided at a plurality of spaced points, conveniently in vertical alignment with the respective flues, with branch connections 3132 respectively to a common orifice 33 in vertical alignment with ducts 34 extending vertically through the pillar walls and in turn terminating in equalizing channels 35. The equalizing channels 36 on the opposite, side of theimedian line L of the battery may be connected in a similar manner to sources of gas supply located on that side. Ducts 37 provided at their ends with the usual refractory nozles 38 lead from the equalizing channels into the bottom of each combustion flue 17. In the branches 31-32 are located respectively the valves or cocks 39-40 which are easily accessible through the tunnels and may be conveniently set to regulate the flow to each heating flue.

By employing a plurality of vertical ducts 34 corresponding in number and each individual to the respective heating'flues and in vertical align ment therewith I am able to effect a very eflicient distribution of the gas and am thus able -to regulate the temperatures and pressures at and arranged in the manner disclosed in my prior application 33,811 referred to above. It

will be obvious that the respective connecting ducts 34 pass through regions having corresponding temperature characteristics, being cooler at the bottom and hotter at the top, 'and since the flow into each duct may beseparately regulated the gases issuing from the respective connecting ducts may be made to have substantially uniform temperatures and pressures.

In operating the battery on coke oven gas the latter is fed from the mains M to the gas supply ducts 27 on one side of the battery and to similar ducts (not shown) on the other side of the battery and from these ducts and through the valves or cocks 39, adjusted to give the gas distribution desired, then upwardly through the connecting ducts 34 to the equalizer channels 3536, then upwardly through the nozzles 38 also graduated for the flow distribution desired and ducts 37 to the combustion flues 17 of the inflow. walls where it combines with the air supplied to the combustion flues from the regenerators in the usual manner, as disclosed for instance in my prior Patent No. 1,374,546 or my pending application No. 705,556, supra, the products of combustion passing from the tops of the flues 17 through the ports 24 into the horizontal flues 25 and thence through the cross-over passageways 26 to the flues of the outflow walls on the opposite sides of the respective chambers and thence downwardly through said flues and out through the waste gas regenerators to the waste heat flues F, the uniformity of temperatures and pressures of the gases at corresponding points in their paths being preserved throughout.

When it is desired to operate on other 'unpreheated gas, e. g., water gas, the coke oven gas connections are out 01f at m and the watergas supply from the main N connected to the supply ducts 29 and 30 by opening the valve n, the flow being thence through the valves 40 adjusted to give the desired distribution of water gas, theoperation otherwise being'substantially as set forthfor coke oven gas. It is obvious that, if desired, either as a matter of economy or for the purpose of obtaining a better heat distribution certain of the flues may be supplied from the coke oven gas mains and others from the water gas mains, or certain of the walls may be supplied with coke oven gas and others with water gas, or groups of said flues or walls may be similarly supplied. It is also obvious that they may, if advantageous, be similarly supplied by a regulated mixture of the two gases. It is further obvious that, if desired, additional sources of unpreheated gas supply may be employed, each having its own individual mains and supply connections.

When it is desired to operate the oven on producer or other gas requiring preheating the unpreheated gas connections are all shut off. The gas to be preheated and the air are passed through their respective regenerators, the Waste heat being taken off through the remaining regenerators. Upon reversal the waste heat regenerators of the previous period become air and gas regenerators,

respectively while the air and gas regenerators of the previous period become waste gas regenerators, the arrangement in each case being preferably such that the regenerators through which the combustion gas passes are separated from those through which the waste heat passes by regerenators passing air whereby the liability to wasteful leakage of gas through the walls into the waste gases is obviated.

It is also possible for the purpose of regulating flame height, heat distribution, or for purposes of economy, or the like, to supply the combustion flues with a regulated mixture of preheated and unpreheated combustible gases.

The equalizer channels 3536 have open outer ends to permit cleaningor the introduction of air to burn out the carbon and tarry or other deposits, their open ends during normal operation being closed by the decarbonizing guns 45. Decarbonizing air may, however, if desired, be introduced from the bottom into the supply ducts 27, 28, 29 and 30 in the usual manner.

In the modification shown in Figures 3 and 4, the equalizing channels are dispensed with and the vertical flues 34 communicate directly with the respective combustion flues 1'7 pf the heating chambers and heating walls therefor arranged laterally of each other in a row, each of said heating walls comprising vertical combustion flues; the tops of the flues of each of said heating Walls being communicably connected with the tops of the flues of another of the heating walls for passage of combustion products from the flues of each of the heating walls to the flues of another of said walls-by cross-over ducts crossing over the coking chambers intervening said .heating walls; cross-regenerators, separated by division walls below and parallel to the coking chambers and heatingwalls and communicably connected to the flues of the heating walls; accessible passageways beneath the regenerators; vertical ducts for supplying rich fuel gas to each of the vertical flues, said ducts extending through the regenerator division walls from the accessible passageways beneath the regenerators to the vertical flues, and each of said ducts being individual to one of the vertical fines and in vertical alignment therewith; and gas-pressure equalizing passages disposed within said division walls below the vertical flues and communicably connecting with each other a plurality of the said ducts in the same division wall therewith.

2. In a coking retort oven battery, in combination: a series of alternate horizontal coking chambers and heating walls therefor arranged laterally of each other in a row, each of said heating walls comprising vertical combustion flues; the tops of the vertical flues of each of the heating walls being communicably connected with the tops of the flues of another of the heating walls by cross-over ducts crossing over the coking chambers intervening said heating'walls; pairs of regenerators below and parallel to the coking chambers and heating walls, each regenerator of a pair being communicably connected with the flues of a heating wall for gas flow simultaneously in the same direction as the other regenerator of the same pair and being separated therefrom by a division wall extending lengthwise of the heating walls; accessible passageways beneath said regenerators; vertical ducts for supplying rich fuel gas to each of the vertical flues, said ducts extending through the division walls aforesaid from the accessible passageways to the vertical flues, and each of said ducts being individual to one of the vertical flues and in vertical alignment therewith; and gas-pressure equalizing passages disposed within the aforesaid division walls below the vertical flues and communicably connecting with each other a plurality of the vertical ducts in the same division wall therewith.

3. In a coking retort oven battery, in combination: a series of alternate coking chambers and heating walls therefor arranged laterally of each other in a row, each of said heating walls comprising vertical combustion flues; regenerators below the coking chambers and heating walls and communicating with the flues of the heating walls and separated from. each other by division walls extending lengthwise of the coking chambers; ac-

cessible passageways beneath the regenerators;

vertical conduits for supplying rich fuel gas to 7 each of the vertical flues of said heating walls,

said conduits extending through said division walls from the accessible passageways to the vertical flues, and each of the vertical conduits being individual to one of the vertical flues and in vertical alignment therewith; and gas-pressure equalizing passages disposed within the aforesaid division walls below the vertical flues and communicably connecting with each other a plurality of the said vertical conduits in the same divisionwall therewith.

4. In a coking retort oven battery, in combination: a series of alternate horizontal coking chambers and heating walls therefor arranged laterally of each other in a row, each of said heating walls.

comprising vertical combustion flues; pairs of air and gas regenerators below the coking chambers and heating walls and communicating with the vertical flues of the heating walls, each regene er'ator of a pair being adapted for gas flow simultaneously inthe same direction as the other regenerator of the same pair and being separated therefrom by a division wall extending lengthwise of the coking chambers; accessible passageways beneath the regenerators; vertical conduits for supplying rich fuel gas to each of the vertical flues of said heating walls, said conduits extending through said division walls from the accessible passageways to the vertical flues, and each of said 

